Heroes Day Speech :
Tigers sing the praises of the fallen

By: K.T. Rajasingham

For the second consecutive year,
peace and peaceful ways of seeking a
negotiated settlement has been given
prominence in the "Maveerar Nal"
Heroes Day (Martyrs) speech by Vellupillai
Prabakaran, the Leader of the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the Tamil
militant organization, which is fighting well
over a period of 25 years in Sri Lanka, for a
homeland for the Tamils.

He castigated the five year rule
of Chandrika Bandaranaiake Kumaratunge, the
President of Sri Lanka, as one that has
inflicted the worst form of diabolic
tyrannical oppression. Prabakaran's annual
Heroes Day speech was broadcast on the
evening of 27 November, over the clandestine
"Voice of Tigers" radio.

Tamils' national Heroes day
celebration was held for three days,
concluding on 27 November, on which Day
in1982, Lt. Shanker, the first LTTE fighter
gave his life in their struggle. Initially,
Heroes Day celebrations started in 1989, held
on a single day on 27 November, at Batticaloa
in the Eastern province, during the Indian
occupation of the North and Eastern
provinces.

From 1990 to 94, celebrations
were held over a seven day period, but since
1995, after their eviction from the Jaffna
peninsula, LTTE shortened the programme to 3
days, ending again on the 27 November.Earlier
on the 27th morning, the Tamil Tigers freed
seven Sri Lankan government soldiers, as
goodwill gesture, to mark the annual
remembrance day of their fallen heroes.

According to available reports,
the Heroes Day in the sprawling Wanni region
and in other areas that did not come under
government control, were celebrated with
renewed vigor. Large crowd of people were
seen attending temples and churches for mass
prayers on behalf of their martyred loved
ones. Several hundreds paid homage by laying
wreaths and flowers in the specially
constructed heroes grave-yards in the Wanni
areas.Security cordon was tightened in
Colombo and suburbs anticipating suicide
squad attack by the Black Tigers. Sources
also said that the security in Colombo and
the suburbs has been brought under the
command of Major General, M.D.S. Chandrapala.
It was the first time that such a high
ranking officer has been appointed in charge
of the Army security units in Colombo.

There was no report of any
untoward incidents anywhere in the
island.Unlike last year, a few journalists
from the national print and electronic media,
as well as from international news agencies
were seen hovering in Vavuniya, the garrison
town, bordering the Northern province, to
listen to Prabakaran's annual speech over the
clandestine radio, even though International
Secretariat of the LTTE released the English
translation of the Tiger Supremo's Tamil
speech by fax to the print and electronic
media. Also the speech was put on their
official website.

This year's annual address of
Prabakaran evoked keen interest at the
national and international levels. As polling
for the Presidential election is to be held
on 21 December, attention was focused on
Prabakaran's address, where he was expected
to spell out his thinking on the broad issues
of conflict, his posturing of his themes such
as peace, negotiated settlement, peace talks,
third party mediation and his comments on the
presidential election.Prabakaran who turned
45 years on 26th, said in his address,
"Our current military success have
surprised and astounded the world.

This is a unique historical
achievement in the art of contemporary
warfare. The dimensions of this military
victory have not only amazed our enemy but
also astonished several international
countries that have been actively helping Sri
Lanka's war effort by providing training,
arms and funds."Tiger leader was
referring to the military success of his
Unceasing Wave III operation, which commenced
on 1 November, eventually led to the military
success of capturing of the Sri Lankan army
camps in Odduchuddan, Nedunkerni,
Karripattaimurrippu, Olumadhu, Ampakamam,
Mankulam, Puliyankulam, Pankamneeravi, vast
track of Manal Aru (Weli-Oya) and several
camps in the Mannar district.

Earlier it took more than 19
months for the Sri Lankan government forces
to capture these areas in the Wanni region,
loosing more than 3600 army personnel. Tiger
blitzkrieg made the whole country dumbfounded
on their quick rate of success in their
military campaign. Political observers agree
that it was a humiliating military debacle
for Chandrika Kumaratunge who is seeking
reelection for presidency. According to the
Sri Lankan President's version, the number of
security forces killed in action from
November 2, was limited to 101, wounded 743
and 123 missing in action.

Prabakaran pointed out in his
address," The vast tracts of lands of
Wanni, which were invaded and occupied by the
Sinhala armed forces after years and months
of massive military campaigns, after
sacrificing thousands of lives, have been
liberated by our fighters at a rapid pace,
within a short span of time. A colossal
military structure with its multiple military
complexes, well-fortified bases and camps
suddenly collapsed with the onslaught of the
Tiger offensive. We have liberated almost all
the ancient strategic towns in the Wanni
region. I am happy that we have redeemed a
sector of Manal Aru, which is the heartland
of Wanni, where the state's army massacred
the indigenous Tamils and created Sinhala
settlements.""Our massive offensive
campaign in Wanni code-named Unceasing Waves
3' has effectively demonstrated to the world,
the extra-ordinary growth and development of
the Tiger fighting forces in the art of
modern warfare. The speed of our strikes,
ability of rapid deployment, the unified
command, the high discipline, the spectacular
offensive tactics and tremendous courage
displayed by our fighting formations have
astounded the world military experts."In
a cleverly designed address, Prabakaran
avoided any mention about the forthcoming
Presidential election.

Instead he said, "The two
major Sinhala political parties, who have
assumed political power alternatively in the
Sri Lankan political system, are essentially
chauvinistic organizations. Both these
political parties have bred and flourished in
the anti-Tamil Sinhala Buddhist racist
ideology. For the last half a century these
parties competed with each other in
intensifying the oppression against the Tamil
people."

The Tiger leader strongly
expressed his misgiving and questioned the
integrity of Chandrika Kumaratunge the
incumbent president. He severely criticized
the two pronged strategies of Chandrika
Kumaratunge, namely " war for
peace" and "the constitutional
devolution package" and added, "In
the diabolical history of racist oppression,
it is Chandrika's regime which has inflicted
the worst form of tyrannical
oppression."Continuing his scathing
attack, he said, "The five-year rule of
Chandrika has been a curse on the Tamil
people.

The monumental tragedy that our
people encountered in the form of war,
violence, death destruction, displacement,
hunger and starvation were the worst form of
tyranny ever suffered by the Tamils.
Chandrika's oppressive rule marks an epoch
consisting of blood stained pages of our
history. Her tyrannical rule left a permanent
scar on the soul of the Tamil nation. While
masterminding an authoritarian rule against
the Tamils internally, Chandrika Kumaratunga
portrayed herself internationally as a
goddess of democracy committed to peace.
Having implemented a notorious military
program aimed at the total invasion of the
Tamil homeland, she interpreted her project
as war effort for peace.

The entire international
community believed her and supported her
military project. In this deceptive
disinformation campaign to cheat the world,
treacherous Tamil elements played a crucial
role."Prabakaran, wears a cyanide
capsule around his neck, to be swallowed in
the event of his capture and has a reputation
as a fearless and ruthless guerrilla leader,
who inspires conflicting emotions in which
reflect the divisions between the Sinhalese
and Tamil ethnic groups. His followers
consider him a legendary leader struggling
for the emancipation of the Tamils, whilst
his adversaries consider him a megalomaniac
with brutal disregard for human life. Born on
26 November 1954, in the northern coastal
town of Valvetiturai, in his annual address
said very loud and clearly, "We do not
trust Chandrika. She does not have the
honesty and determination to resolve the
Tamil national conflict in a fair and
reasonable manner. We perceive her as a
modern representative of a neo-Sinhala
Buddhist chauvinism. It is for this reason we
refused to engage in a direct dialogue with
her."

Earlier on 15 November,
Chandrika Kumaratunge said that, Prabakaran
has rejected three times her offers to open a
dialogue to end the ethnic war in the island.
Answering questions from a large group of
Colombo-based Tamils, during a satellite
link-up conference, the president said that
she made her offer for talks through the
representatives of respected and acceptable
international organizations. She concluded
that the leader of the LTTE has told her
contacts that he was not interested in talks.
Chandrika blamed that Prabkaran was
pretending to the world that he is keeping
the door open for negotiations, but it was a
deception.As expected, the Tiger leader told
his version of the story in his address.

"Chandrika conveyed to us a
message through third party source, that she
was prepared to hold secret talks with
certain conditions, while continuing the war
effort. We rejected her proposal. It is
absurd and practically impossible to hold
peace talks on one side while engaging in a
bloody war on the other side. It is extremely
a difficult task to involve in a friendly
dialogue with enemy, while our people are
subjected to death, destruction and
suffering. Furthermore, we do not want to
engage in a negotiating process with
conditions and time frames. Chandrika did not
sincerely extend her hand of friendship. She
wanted to lay a trap under the cover of peace
talks. But we are not prepared to fall into
that trap. Swept by the Unceasing Waves' of
the Liberation Tigers, Chandrika's military
project crumbled as a house of sand built on
the seashore. The spectacular victories that
we have gained in the current offensive
campaign have turned the balance of the
military power in our fervor. The massive
efforts made by Chandrika over the last five
years to weaken the LTTE and to achieve
military hegemony was shattered by us in a
matter of a few days."Above serious
accusation, weighed as the most humiliating
political debacle for Chandrika Kumaratunge,
in her reelection bid for the presidency.

This message expressed so
loudly, would seal the fate of Chandrika
Kumaratunge's support of the Tamils. It would
be highly imponderable for the moderate Tamil
political organizations to risk their support
openly to her. This speech, undoubtedly a
trend- setter, even in the plantation areas,
where Tamils of the Indian origin would
clearly defy the appeals of their leaders and
change camps. According a hurried street
survey in the capital of Colombo,
Prabakaran's speech has stirred the
conscience of the moderate Sinhalese voters,
who long for a durable peace and stability.
Even though as stated by the Tiger leader
that, his organization stand today as
formidable force strengthened by manpower,
firepower, moral power and has the military
capacity to liberate the Tamils' homeland, he
has not abandoned the path for peace. He
stressed that he wants to resolve the Tamil
conflict through peaceful means, through
civilized methods, without recourse to a
bloodbath and the destruction of life.

Though whilst concluding his
speech, he said, "Years ago our people
made a decision that in independent state of
Tamil Eelam is the only and the final
solution to our national conflict. (He in
fact, referred to the Vaddukoddai resolution
of 14 May 1976, adopted by the Tamil United
Liberation Front (TULF), which stated, This
convention resolves the reconstitution of the
Free, Sovereign, Secular, Socialist State of
Tamil Eelam, based on the right of
self-determination, inherent in every nation,
has become inevitable, in order to safeguard
the very existence of the Tamil nation in the
country.') For the last several years, our
freedom movement has been fighting a bloody
liberation struggle carrying the cross of our
people's aspirations for freedom. Today we
have reached a turning point in this long
journey towards emancipation."

How ever, it is worthwhile to
note that, he has ingeniously avoided using
the words "Separate State of Eelam"
in his annual address. This exhibits very
clearly his desire for open-ended negotiated
political settlement, within the framework of
a unified country. This flexibility of his
position in a peace negotiation would tend to
create a healthy atmosphere for a successful
settlement of the protracted fratricidal war.

It is essential for the
political leaders of the country to take note
and cease the opportunity for talks.Analysis
reveals that this posturing of the LTTE may
augur well with Ranil Wickremesinghe, the
leader of the United National Party (UNP) and
the presidential candidate. He has openly
declared in his election manifesto, called
"My pact with the people" that ,he
will open dialogue with the LTTE, will work
towards de-escalating the war, ending the
conflict and restoring normalcy and would
endeavor to set up an Interim Council in the
Northern and Eastern Provinces.

Unfortunately, the presidential
election campaigning has degenerated into
personal attacks and recently the President
accused Ranil Wickremasinghe's proposals
amounted to, handing over the country to the
Tamil separatist leader. In response to this
allegation, the UNP leader said in lighter
vein, "I shall not hand over the country
to the LTTE, but shall, if necessary, hand
over Chandrika Kumaratunge to the LTTE."
Ceasing the opportunity, the President paid
back her rival in kind. "I shall remind
him that he has no right to hand over the
President of a country, or any other woman to
Prabakaran. We don't mind him offering his
own spouse to Prabakaran." At the
backdrop of such personal barbs being traded
in the election campaign for the highest
office, Prabakaran speech is expected have a
telling effect on the body polity of the
country.

In his address he said, "We
are keeping the doors open and are sending
signals of peace and goodwill to the Sinhala
nation." He further added, "We wish
to reiterate that peace talks should be held
in a cordial peaceful atmosphere of mutual
trust and goodwill with the assistance of
international third party mediation. By
peaceful atmosphere we mean a condition of
normalcy characterized by cessation of
hostilities, withdrawal of troops occupying
Tamil lands and the absence of economic
blockade."

According to sources close to
the LTTE leadership, that any arrangement for
a mediated negotiation must have the
blessings of India, the country that has more
than 60 million Tamils of its own. In the
meantime Indian diplomats who wish to remain
anonymous, told this writer, that it is
highly unlikely to negotiate with LTTE,
whilst Prabakaran remains in the wanted list
for the slaying of Rajiv Gandhi. Political
analyst believes that India would cross the
bridge at the appropriate time. Any how, the
annual speech of Parabkaran has already
stirred the political scenario in the country
and peace loving Tamils and Sinhalese
civilians have expressed their appreciation
for the Tiger Supremo's goodwill gesture for
peace and negotiated settlement.